Businesses have long recognised that they can and should make a meaningful contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). And there’s a big prize on offer for solving major economic, environmental and social challenges and delivering on the goals — an estimated $12 trillion in business opportunities.
Over 90% of members of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development mentioned at least one of the 17 goals in their 2023 annual report. At least three-quarters of sustainability professionals believe their business is aligned with delivering the aims of the SDGs.
But in a growing number of cases, alignment is superficial, leading to accusations of SDG-washing — using the SDGs as a way to imply greater social and environmental impact. For example, the company mentions that it is partnering to deliver the SDGs (goal 17) because it has joined an industry body aimed at tackling deforestation, inequality, or another recognised sustainability challenge. Yet, it has not made any changes to its current sustainability strategy or ways of working.
Here are Context’s top tips for using the SDGs to drive meaningful change within your business.
1. Create a detailed map to guide your journey
For each of the 17 high-level goals, there are up to 12 targets — 169 targets in total. And for each target, there are between two and four indicators of progress. But many companies don’t look beyond the headline goals.
A comprehensive approach to SDG mapping requires companies to assess both their positive and negative impacts at the target level. It enables you to understand where the organisation can have the biggest impact, but also identify the trade-offs — where pursuing benefits in one area could cause harm in another. Building a new coal-fired power station improves access to affordable energy (goal 7), but also generates increased emissions slowing climate action (goal 13). A thorough evaluation also ensures no opportunities or risks are overlooked.
You will need to look at many of the same sources you use to identify and assess your company’s sustainability matters as part of any Double Materiality Assessment. Combining the two provides a rounded view of the company’s impacts, risks and opportunities.
2. Explore the full value chain
SDG mapping should cover the full value chain — not just the company’s own operations. A pharmaceutical company’s core focus on improving health and wellbeing (goal 3) may be undermined if new treatments can’t get to market. Looking upstream and downstream helps to identify the areas where partnership is essential for delivering on the aims of the SDGs (goal 17).
3. Adopt a less is more approach
With the exception of some multinational, portfolio businesses, few organisations can have an impact on all 17 SDGs. It is better to focus on just a few core goals without becoming blinkered to the company’s impacts — positive and negative — on other SDGs.
If impact is genuinely broader than just a few goals, you could reference linked goals where company actions create co-benefits. For example, providing better nutrition (goal 2) may help children to concentrate better in schools and enjoy the benefits of quality education (goal 4).
Transparency breeds trust. Stakeholders expect a company to explain its approach to prioritising the SDGs. That means showing the company has selected the areas where it can make the biggest impact and directly contribute to the target. A record of providing employee training does not represent a contribution to quality education (goal 4), though improving access in emerging markets to the textbooks the company produces might.
It also means acknowledging that the company can’t have a positive impact in all areas — and indeed in furthering one goal may generate trade-offs in another area.
4. Mind the gap
Companies should focus on the SDGs where they can have the greatest impact. But less scrupulous organisations have adopted the same approach with dubious motives.
Consider the soft drinks company that focuses on sustainable consumption and production (goal 12), but fails to address (or even acknowledge) its impact on good health and wellbeing (goal 3). Or how about the fossil fuel company that focuses on decent work and economic growth (goal 8), but overlooks climate action (goal 13).
These are deliberate instances of SDG-washing. But companies can face similar accusations when they fail to explain why they have chosen to put the focus on some areas and not others.
5. Integrate the SDGs into the core business
Some companies pepper their annual sustainability report with logos of the individual SDGs, but then the goals are not mentioned again until the following report. True impact only stems from integrating the goals and targets within the business.
Researchers at Stanford University have identified companies that have embedded the SDGs into everything they do. African technology company Safaricom has woven the goals into its statement of purpose, descriptions of team tasks and even personal objectives. This helps to explain how the finance team provides ‘transparency and visibility on our procurement practices and fighting corruption in all its forms (goal 16)’ or HR promotes decent work and good labour practices (goal 8).
Meanwhile, Danish biotechnology company Novozyme uses the SDGs as a lens to decide which new products to advance and which to shelve.
6. Measure and demonstrate progress
Impact is hard to measure, particularly in relation to systemic issues. Over 80% of business leaders have indicated that measurement challenges prevent progress towards the goals.
This is where comprehensive SDG mapping comes into its own. The Stanford researchers highlighted how Ramboll assessed revenues against its priority SDGs to identify which business units directly contributed to delivery of the goals and which didn’t. By shifting focus on to the business units with greatest impact, it was able to demonstrate progress towards the goals, while reducing negative impacts elsewhere.
7. Approach the SDGs as you would other reporting frameworks
Most companies mention their contribution to the SDGs in their annual sustainability reports, but rarely treat disclosures with the same level of thoroughness as other reporting frameworks such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) or the IFRS’s International Sustainability Standards.
Greater visibility is needed. If a company says it is contributing to the SDGs, its commitment and actions should be clearly connected to the SDGs targets — and supported by robust data. The GRI’s business reporting database provides guidance on how the SDGs align with common reporting frameworks, enabling the SDGs to be integrated into wider reporting activities. Done well, it reassures stakeholders that companies are serious about their social and environmental impact and build trusts.
Referencing the company’s contribution to the SDGs in the CEO’s introduction to the annual sustainability report demonstrates that the commitment comes from the top of the organisation.
Context supports companies to map their impacts and understand their contribution to the SDGs and their material issues. This provides the foundation for robust sustainability strategy, reporting and communications – beyond the addition of a few SDG logos to your report. If you would like to talk about your organisation’s needs, please get in touch via www.contextsustainability.com or helen.fisher@contexteurope.com.
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